One would expect a trove of interesting stories from a guy who spent 37 years with the Phoenix Suns.

Sure enough, Tom Ambrose, the team’s former public and community relations director, released a book in November called “Notes from the Wacko! File and Tales from the Madhouse on McDowell.” It focuses on the first 25 years of the Suns’ history, including some of Ambrose’s personal past.

He worked as director of PR for the first 17 years of his career with the team, and he spent the last 20 handling community relations. During that time, he created Phoenix Charities.

His book is quippy and funny, and it is easy to follow the NBA’s growth from infancy through his short vignettes.

“I think out of all things this book will do, it will awaken memories for old Suns fans,” Ambrose said.

But it is not a tell-all, nor are the stories told in chronological order.

“The style is that of a couple of friends sitting at a bar reminiscing,” he said.

Ambrose originally planned to be a high school teacher and coach. But he found the teaching field was flooded with applicants in the 1960s because they could be deferred from military service in Vietnam. So he started looking into other options and wrote to the Public Relations Society of America to fully understand that industry.

As he was reading through the packet the group sent, he could see himself in the various positions.

“I thought to myself: Well, I don’t have a job, but I have a career,” Ambrose said.

When he moved to the Valley, Ambrose practiced his profession at Phoenix Newspapers Inc., which owned The Arizona Republic before it was bought out by Gannett Co. Inc. He transitioned to the Suns a few years later at the request of Jerry Colangelo, who was the Suns’ general manager at the time and later purchased the team.

“He recognized in me the same thing he recognizes in players, and that is potential,” Ambrose said of Colangelo.

Ambrose joined the Suns in 1973. A few years later, when PR Director Jim Brochu resigned, Business Manager Bob Machen and Colangelo immediately called him to take the job.

“He was such a natural fit for the team,” said Machen, who now owns a consulting firm.

When he accepted the PR job, Ambrose was not expecting to stay with the team long.

“I thought I would be with the Suns for five to seven years,” he said.

Instead, he was able to watch the sport develop from a game of finesse to a game of strength. He said it has achieved balance.

New management in 2009 phased Ambrose out, but he was happy to have more free time because the job had consumed his days and nights.

After a short stint with the Fiesta Bowl, he joined Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona in 2010 as executive director. He had a great experience as a Big Brother in the 1970s, so he is approaching this job with passion.

So far, Ambrose has sold about 500 copies of his self-published book, which can be found in print and for the Amazon Kindle. It went through five editors. and he worked hard to make it appealing to everyone, not just sports fans.

Machen, who helped Ambrose compile the stories, said the book is unique.

“You have to be a Phoenix Suns person to truly appreciate what the book is,” he said.

Ambrose is writing a second book, titled “2Wacko! Echoes from the Palace.” The stories will take place starting in 1992, when the Suns moved from Veterans Memorial Coliseum to America West Arena. He said it will feature stories about Charles Barkley and Steve Nash.

For aspiring authors, Ambrose’s advice is simple: “Write it down ... if not the whole story, just capture the ideas.”